Magnifying devices are often used by people with poor or deteriorating vision to assist with seeing or inspecting small objects or for reading printed material. People with poor vision often need to carry a magnifying device with them for help with reading everyday items such as newspapers, menus or other documents. Even people with normal vision may need assistance with reading finely printed materials or viewing smaller details of objects. Thus, there is a need to provide a portable magnifying device that is easily and conveniently transported, such as by being attached to items that a person wears or carries on a regular basis.
Further, often, individuals must read printed materials or inspect objects in a darkened environment. This makes viewing difficult, even for people with good vision. Thus, it would be beneficial to have a magnifying device with a means for shining light on the object or text to be viewed through the magnifying lens.
Typical beam lights used in small flashlights and similar devices use an incandescent bulb and a parabolic reflective surface to create a column of light for illumination. These bulbs radiate a sphere of light such that a substantial amount of the light is reflected off of the reflective surface. The drawbacks associated with these types of bulbs are that they are relatively inefficient in terms of energy consumption, which increases operating costs for the devices. Another reason for increased operating costs is that the batteries or other power source must be replaced or recharged often. In addition, such bulbs are easily broken due to shock and the life of the bulb can be shortened by ambient temperature extremes or vibrations.
In recent years, semiconductor light emitting diode (xe2x80x9cLEDxe2x80x9d) lamps have come into use in flashlights and other applications. LED""s are typically constructed of gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP) gallium phosphide (GaP), or gallium nitride (GaN). An LED consists of a semiconductor chip having a p-n (positive-negative) junction. The p region consists primarily of positive charges, while the n region consists of negative charges. The junction barrier between the two regions prevents the flow of charges between the two regions. When a voltage is applied to the chip, electrons cross over the junction from the negative side to the positive side. When an electron nears a positive charge, forces of attraction cause the opposite charges to re-combine. This process is also referred to as xe2x80x9celectron-hole recombinationxe2x80x9d. An electron makes a transition to a lower energy level, thus releasing energy. The electronhole recombination which occurs across the junction results in electroluminescence or light emitted by the electronic excitation of a material. The LED light operates on a low current and a negligible amount of heat is produced. The LED lamp is encased in a clear epoxy resin material. The use of LED light sources eliminates some of the problems associated with incandescent lamps such as entrapped heat, limited lamp life and high energy consumption. LED""s are capable of delivering one hundred percent of their released energy as light, while incandescent bulbs can waste more than ninety percent of their potential light by blocking it with a filter or lens. The color of an LED light is determined by the compound used in the semi-conductor chip. Multi-color LED""s are created by combining various chips in an LED housing.
Although LED""s of various colors have been known for quite some time, most designers and engineers still specify use of incandescent bulbs in many applications. One reason for this is that the benefits of LED""s are not fully appreciated. Further, white light is often preferred for most lighting situations. However, white LED lights were not produced until recently. White light is produced by a mixing of various colors of light. The production of mixed colors from a single LED chip was. not possible until recently. Researchers have recently converted a blue LED chip to generate white light. Despite these developments and the benefits of LED lights, LED lamps are rarely, if ever, used in common devices.
The present invention includes a magnifying lens, a support housing to which said magnifying lens may be mounted, at least one light emitting diode lamp for illuminating an object or text being viewed with the magnifying lens, a power source for the light emitting diode lamp and a switch for activating/deactivating the light emitting diode lamp. The LED lamps are preferably white or red-orange light emitting diode lamps. The LED lamps may also include various other colors such as green, blue or yellow.
The switch is connected in a circuit between the LED lamp and the power source so that activation/deactivation of the switch turns the LED lamps on or off. In the embodiment of the invention where LED lamps of two or more different colors are used, the apparatus may be equipped with multiple switches.
In the present invention, the lens may be mounted to the housing by a variety of means such as slidable attachments or pivot hinges. The attachment for mounting the lens to the housing will allow the lens to move from a xe2x80x9cclosedxe2x80x9d position to an xe2x80x9copenxe2x80x9d position. The xe2x80x9cin usexe2x80x9d position is generally the open position. When in use the lens may be in various positions relative to the housing. It may rotate or slide away from the lens in the same plane or it may rotate upwards and away from the housing. It is not precluded in the present invention to have the lens mounted to the housing so that it is in an a permanently xe2x80x9copenxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cin usexe2x80x9d position. However, the closed position will assist in protecting the lens from damage.
The magnifying lens apparatus of the present invention also includes a means for replacing or recharging the power source in the present invention. The means may include, but is not limited to a removable lower casing, a portion of the housing being removable or providing an outlet for connecting the power source to another power source for charging.
The apparatus of the present invention may also include multiple magnifying lenses mounted to a single housing. In addition, the magnifying lenses may be removable or replaceable.
The housing and lens apparatus may also be formed in various polygonal shapes, including but not limited to rectangular, square, round, triangular, oblong, pear shaped, or various other shapes. The shape of the device of the present invention should not be limited by the embodiments shown in the drawings herein.